Chavez v. State, 79A02-9812-CR-986.
| Decision Date | 28 January 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 79A02-9812-CR-986.,79A02-9812-CR-986. |
| Parties | Arturo CHAVEZ, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Kevin R. O'Reilly, O'Reilly Law Offices, Lafayette, Indiana, Attorney for Appellant.
Jeffrey A. Modisett, Attorney General of Indiana, Randi E. Froug, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellee.
Appellant-defendant Arturo Chavez ("Arturo") appeals his convictions by a jury of four counts of dealing in marijuana in an amount of ten pounds or more,1 two counts of conspiracy to commit dealing in marijuana in an amount of ten pounds or more,2 and one count of corrupt business influence,3 all Class C felonies.
We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Arturo presents four issues for our review, which we restate as follows:
(1) whether his several convictions for dealing in marijuana, conspiracy to commit dealing in marijuana, and corrupt business influence are barred by the Indiana constitutional protection against double jeopardy;
(2) whether there was sufficient evidence to establish venue in one of his convictions for dealing in marijuana;
(3) whether two of the incidents of dealing in marijuana for which he was convicted constitute a single episode of criminal conduct for purposes of sentencing; and (4) whether his sentence is manifestly unreasonable.
This case involves a large-scale marijuana operation between Texas and Tippecanoe County, Indiana. Abe A. Voorhees ("Voorhees") first met Arturo in October 1996. At that time, the two men entered into an arrangement whereby Voorhees agreed to transport to Indiana marijuana that Arturo and his brother, Jose Chavez, Jr. ("Jose"), obtained from an unknown source in Texas. In exchange for transporting the marijuana, Voorhees would receive certain quantities of the drug as payment. Between December 1996 and January 1997, Voorhees made several trips to and from Texas for this purpose.
On one such occasion, Voorhees and his girlfriend, Cori McGlothlin ("McGlothlin"), flew to Texas, where Arturo met them at the airport and directed them to a car he had waiting for them. Voorhees and McGlothlin then obtained thirty to forty pounds of marijuana from Jose, hid the drugs in the door panels and spare tire of the car, and drove back to their mobile home in Linden, Indiana.4 The couple arrived in Linden on January 17, 1997, after which Arturo and Jose drove from Texas to Indiana to break the marijuana down for distribution. As he did on occasion, Arturo kept approximately ten pounds of the marijuana for himself. He and Jose also gave Voorhees four pounds of marijuana as payment for making the trip and "fronted" him another sixteen to twenty pounds, which Voorhees distributed to customers in Tippecanoe County. Voorhees paid Arturo for the drugs once they were sold.
In April 1997, Arturo advised Voorhees that he had found another way to transport marijuana from Texas to Indiana. Voorhees learned that Arturo and Jose were shipping the drugs to Lafayette, Indiana5 through the United Parcel Service ("UPS"). Bradley E. Hoskins ("Hoskins") and Eugene W. Seabolt ("Seabolt") had agreed to sign for the UPS packages once they arrived, and a third man, John S. Byrd ("Byrd"), had agreed to retrieve the packages from Hoskins' house and take them to Seabolt's house. Thereafter, Arturo and Jose would come to Lafayette; pay Hoskins, Seabolt, and Byrd; and break the marijuana shipments down for distribution.
On June 23, 1997, two UPS packages containing a total of twenty pounds of marijuana arrived at Hoskins' address, and one UPS package containing approximately sixteen pounds of marijuana arrived at Seabolt's address. The packages had been shipped by Arturo and Jose "three-day select." Unbeknownst to them, the boxes had been previously intercepted by the Houston Police Department in Texas. Sergeant William Peevler of the Lafayette Police Department posed as a UPS delivery man and personally delivered the packages to each address. Seabolt and Byrd were subsequently arrested.
Following the arrests of Seabolt and Byrd, Arturo contacted Voorhees to retrieve another load of marijuana from Texas. There, Arturo and Jose hid two fifteen-pound blocks of marijuana in a speaker box which Voorhees transported back to Indiana in the bed of his pick-up truck. Voorhees returned to Indiana in the early morning hours of August 7, 1997, and he and another man broke the marijuana down for distribution. Voorhees subsequently sold a portion of the marijuana to a confidential informant who had purchased drugs from Voorhees before and knew he had returned from Texas that morning with a new shipment. Thereafter, police arrested Voorhees.
On January 20, 1998, the State charged Arturo as follows:
Count I
On or about the 25th Day of December, 1996, in Tippecanoe County, State of Indiana, Arturo J. Chavez, Jose L. Chavez, Jr., and Abe A. Voorhees did knowingly or intentionally possess, with intent to deliver, marijuana, pure or unadulterated, in an amount of ten (10) pounds or more.
Count II
On or about the 17th day of January, 1997, in Tippecanoe County, State of Indiana, Arturo J. Chavez, Jose L. Chavez, Jr., and Abe A. Voorhees did knowingly or intentionally possess, with intent to deliver, marijuana, pure or unadulterated, in an amount of ten (10) pounds or more.
Count III
On or about the 7th day of August, 1997, in Tippecanoe County, State of Indiana, Arturo J. Chavez, Jose L. Chavez, Jr., and Abe A. Voorhees did knowingly or intentionally possess, with intent to deliver, marijuana, pure or unadulterated, in an amount of ten (10) pounds or more.
Count IV
On multiple occasions in 1996 and 1997, including December, 1996, January, 1997, and July-August, 1997, in Tippecanoe County, State of Indiana, Arturo J. Chavez, Jose L. Chavez, Jr., and Abe A. Voorhees, with the intent to commit Dealing in Marijuana, Including Amounts of Ten (10) Pounds Or More, did agree with each other to import marijuana, in amounts of ten (10) pounds or more, for delivery to other persons in Tippecanoe County, and one or more of the following overt acts were performed in furtherance of said agreement, to wit: on multiple occasions in 1996, and 1997, Voorhees went to the State of Texas; Voorhees met with Jose Chavez and/or Arturo Chavez to obtain marijuana, including amounts over ten pounds; Arturo Chavez and/or Jose Chavez obtained marijuana from an unknown source and Arturo Chavez and/or Jose Chavez delivered marijuana, including amounts more than ten (10) pounds, to Voorhees; Voorhees transported said marijuana to Tippecanoe County for Arturo Chavez and Jose Chavez; Arturo and/or Jose Chavez came to Tippecanoe County, met with Voorhees, and took possession of said marijuana; Arturo Chavez and/or Jose Chavez delivered part of said marijuana to Voorhees for distribution to other persons and retained possession of the remaining marijuana for delivery to other persons [and] themselves.
Count V
On or about the 23rd day of June, 1997, in Tippecanoe County, State of Indiana, Arturo J. Chavez, Jose L. Chavez, Jr., Bradley E. Hoskins and John S. Byrd did knowingly or intentionally possess, with intent to deliver, marijuana, pure or unadulterated, in an amount of ten (10) pounds or more.
Count VI
On or about the 23rd day of June, 1997, in Tippecanoe County, State of Indiana, Arturo J. Chavez, Jose L. Chavez, Jr., and Eugene W. Seabolt did knowingly or intentionally possess, with intent to deliver, marijuana, pure or unadulterated, in an amount of ten (10) pounds or more.
Count VII
On multiple occasions from March, 1997, to June, 1997, including May and June, 1997, in Tippecanoe County, State of Indiana, Arturo J. Chavez, Jose L. Chavez, Jr., Bradley Hoskins, John Byrd and Eugene Seabolt, with the intent to commit Dealing In Marijuana, Including Amounts of Ten (10) Pounds Or More, did agree with each other to import marijuana, in amounts of ten (10) pounds or more, for delivery to other persons in Tippecanoe County, and one or more of the following overt acts were performed in furtherance of said agreement, to wit: On multiple occasions during the first half of 1997 Arturo Chavez and/or Jose Chavez would obtain marijuana, including amounts over ten (10) pounds; Arturo Chavez and/or Jose Chavez would arrange to ship said marijuana to Hoskins, Seabolt and Byrd; Hoskins, Seabolt and Byrd would receive marijuana, including amounts over ten (10) pounds, and hold said marijuana until Arturo Chavez and/or Jose Chavez came to Tippecanoe County to take possession of said marijuana, with the intent to deliver it to other persons; and, Arturo Chavez and/or Jose Chavez would pay Hoskins, Byrd and Seabolt for accepting delivery of, and holding, said marijuana.
In addition, the State charged Arturo with corrupt business influence under Indiana's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"). Count VIII essentially reiterated the activities enumerated in Counts I through VII and alleged that such conduct amounted to a pattern of racketeering activity between Arturo, Jose, Voorhees, Hoskins, Byrd, and unknown others who were "associated with an enterprise, which was a group and an association in fact, having the purpose of dealing, and possessing with intent to deliver, controlled substances."
A jury trial was commenced on October 27, 1998. Several witnesses, including McGlothlin, Voorhees, Seabolt, Hoskins, and Byrd were granted use immunity to testify against Arturo. At trial, the State maintained that it did not have to prove Arturo possessed marijuana or was physically in Tippecanoe County on the dates alleged in the informations, only that he "aided, induced, or caused" another person to commit the crimes as charged. The jury was likewise instructed on the issue...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Wadle v. State
...the actual-evidence test's application to Indiana's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. See Chavez v. State , 722 N.E.2d 885, 893 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000). The RICO Act prohibits a person from committing a "corrupt business influence" through "a pattern of racketeering ac......
-
People v. Hoover
...intent to authorize multiple punishments. See Carroll v. State, 459 So.2d 368, 369 (Fla.Dist.Ct. App.1984); Chavez v. State, 722 N.E.2d 885, 894-94 (Ind.Ct.App.2000)("[W]e cannot logically conclude that the legislature meant to substitute the RICO offense for the underlying predicate offens......
-
State Of Ohio v. Moulton
...F.2d 278, 283; People v. Hoover (Colo. App. 2006), 165 P.3d 784; Carroll v. State {¶la.App.1984), 459 So.2d 368, 369; Chavez v. State (Ind.App.2000), 722 N.E.2d 885, 894-94; Dudas, ...
-
Thomas v. State
...of conspiracy. See e.g., Long v. State, 743 N.E.2d 253 (Ind.2001); Lundberg v. State, 728 N.E.2d 852 (Ind. 2000); Chavez v. State, 722 N.E.2d 885 (Ind.Ct.App.2000). For example, in Lundberg, the defendant was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Id. at 852. Although evidence......